Thursday, 8 April 2010

Anger over bomber claims

[This is the headline over a report published today on the website of the Barrhead News, a local newspaper circulating in Renfrewshire. It reads in part:]

Claims that the Lockerbie bomber is refusing to co-operate with East Renfrewshire Council have been rubbished.

It had been claimed by a candidate for the East Renfrewsire Parliamentary seat that convicted terrorist Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was not co-operating with the council. (...)

However, a council spokesman pointed out that they have to treat Megrahi the same as everyone else within the local authority when it comes to confidential information.

Personal details the council holds of any Barrhead residents will not be released without the owner's consent and the same applies to Megrahi.

The council spokesman said: "We receive monthly medical reports as part of the release licence for Mr Megrahi.

"They are private and confidential medical reports and we won't be releasing them.

"We wouldn't release medical reports for any client and he, despite the circumstances and international background, is a criminal justice client like any other."

It was revealed that MSP George Foulkes had requested the details under the Freedom of Information Act but this was rejected, as was his appeal.

The council spokesman said: "We were asked to release personal medical reports about Mr Megrahi.

"We refused because these are personal data and their release would breach the data protection act which protects personal information.

"When the refusal was reviewed our senior legal adviser rightly checked through every possible avenue to test the original decision.

"The data protection act provides that it would not be a breach to release sensitive personal data about a person, if that person agrees to its release.

"As part of the review, it was absolutely right that we checked that position with Mr Megrahi's representatives and the response, which has been passed to Mr Foulkes, is that they wouldn't agree and therefore the original decision stands."

2 comments:

  1. MISSION LOCKERBIE (only a computer "Babylon" translation, german/english)

    Which Person designed the crucial MST-13 Timerfragment in official order to entangle Libya and Mr Abdelbaset Al Megrahi into the PanAm 103 assassination attempt ? New fundamental defence evidence to favour of Libya, definitive will bring the truth on the table ! Facts in the approach...

    by Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd, Switzerland (www.lockerbie.ch)

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  2. Dear Chinese bloggers,

    A: William Blake makes more sense in English no matter how quaint his work might appear in Chinese script.

    B: "Happiness is your birthright no matter what you have done." Really?!

    And here was me thinking, what with the twisted contortions that already exist in this case, that it was the security services and the judiciary that were living on Zog. Whatever next?

    Yours with deepest sympathy,
    同志 森林

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